Activist Omoyele Sowore has petitioned the Federal High Court in Abuja to grant him the opportunity to secure subpoenas for the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and presidential aide Bayo Onanuga. Sowore intends to call both men as witnesses in his current trial for cybercrime and criminal defamation.
This development followed testimony from Uwem Davies, a DSS representative who admitted during Wednesday’s hearing that he ordered Sowore to delete social media posts about President Bola Tinubu based on explicit instructions from the agency’s Director-General. Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, the lead defense counsel, maintained that the court requires direct testimony from the DSS head because Davies could not address critical inquiries during cross-examination.
The defense team also noted that previous efforts to deliver a subpoena to Bayo Onanuga failed due to difficulties in serving the legal documents. Davies confirmed drafting a January 22 letter regarding the deletion of online content, citing potential public tension, but clarified that a separate letter sent to Meta was authored by a retired officer, B. Bamigboye. The court has scheduled the next session for July 28.
